


Crushing Waters

by CryTill5AM (BogDing)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Body Horror, Drowning, Lance: Child of the Ocean AU, Multi, Other, Vomiting, ask to tag more!, check me blog for updates and more info about this au, not in a sexy way eithere, sea monster!lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-02 14:45:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11511570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BogDing/pseuds/CryTill5AM
Summary: “Mi pequeño mar,” She had cooed, cupping his soft cheeks to ensure he’d listen to her wisdom, seeing his grandmother a ways off, her own sharp toothed smile both chilling and reassuring, “if ever you find yourself adrift at sea, with your lungs full of water and weariness in your heart, know to call upon Ceto, and she will answer.”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For more info about this AU please check out: https://crytill5am.tumblr.com/tagged/Lance%3A-Child-of-the-Ocean-AU

Everything went wrong when they came into orbit.

Allura had received a distress call from a previously unknown planet, covered in deep oceans and unknown life, and like all the previous times had practically warped them there to the rescue without truly checking the dangers of doing so. 

That had been the first mistake.

The second had been the paladins entering the atmosphere, Lions at the ready and tension rumbling between them. As they flew over the bright violet oceans, Lance cracked a joke about purple rain, breaking the awkward atmosphere with the team groaning in response, the amusement in their tone letting Lance know the effort to break the tension had been somewhat appreciated. They only let their guard slip for a second.

That was the second mistake.

The third and final mistake came when Lance had paused over a strangely discolored sector of the almost pristine oceans, hesitating in calling the others over to what he’d found. “Hey, guys-”

It had happened too quickly to respond.

Faster than a bullet, a beam of hot liquid light burst from the waters, striking the Blue Lion through her metallic abdomen, agony rippling through the large robot and her paladin before they both swerved and crashed into the violet waters below. Their team cried out to them in panic, and before she could stop herself, the Blue Lion’s metallic maw opened to roar in pain.

It had been an error on her part, as the force of the water crashing through her jaws knocked her paladin out of his seat, Lance losing the helmet too quickly to try and latch onto it. His Lion let out a pained yowl in his mind before she shut off, unable to stop her beloved paladin from being washed out of her cockpit and dragged down, down, down into the watery depths below.

Lance struggled, disoriented, trying to swim to the surface of the planet’s waters; but unable to distinguish up from down, he was left to sink precariously, the waves and currents from Blue’s fall into the ocean carrying him further away from his powered down Lion.

‘ _No, no, no, no, this can’t be happening, this isn’t real, oh god, oh god, Blue, Blue, Blue girl come on wake up, please wake up, please help me!_ ’ His thoughts called out as he stopped his struggles, trying to regain his momentum and find his Lion. It would be safer for him inside her, but the color and salt of the ocean worked as a disadvantage, weakening his sight and making his eyes burn so badly he had to shut them.

Lance came to rest, the ocean stopping with its rocking movements, leaving him to float within the waters that would ultimately become his grave. The blue paladin shook, terrified, the air in his lungs burning painfully the longer he lay there, but he was too tired, too weakened from fighting the currents to make sense of the area he was in, where the surface began and the bottom of the ocean ended. 

Lance called out in his mind, searching for his connection to Blue, hoping to wake her to save him from drowning, but the other end was painfully silent. 

Lance was adrift, alone in an ocean of violet salt, and no one was coming to save him.

Against his wishes, Lance’s lungs pushed the air still inside him outwards, dissipating into the waters and leaving him with no breath to hope to survive. He struggled against the sob aching to burst from his throat, his blue eyes opening weakly to stare around the general area he was in. 

His mind continued to reach out, hoping to find his Blue girl, hoping beyond hope that she, that anyone really, would be able to hear him, to save him from the painful death that awaited him. ‘ _Please, please, anyone, please, help me, I don’t want it to end here, to end this way, I don’t want to die here… please… please…_ ’

 **There are stories** , Lance remembers now, with sudden, aching clarity, the image of his mother’s secretive smile and blue, blue eyes looking at him with the warmth of the summers day as he played along the tide pools back on white beaches and blue oceans,  **of sailors who would throw women overboard during a storm, hoping to appease the sea God, Poseidon, with a bride, hoping for a fair voyage across the oceans, without storm or whirlpool, a safe travel to their destination.**

 **There are stories** , Lance remembers, lungs and eyes burning, the image of his mother’s warm smile turning sharper, deadly and mean as she ran sweet fingers through his soft, child hair,  **of these women screaming and crying, their lungs filling with water as they prayed, desperately, for salvation from death, for anyone to answer their calls.**

 **There are stories** , Lance’s mother would murmur to her sweet boy, his blue eyes wide in awe, little feet pattering in tide pools, drawing curious crabs and small fish to the bubbly boy,  **of something deeper, more ancient and wiser than Poseidon, heeding the calls of these women, her daughters, trading their water filled lungs and last breath for new life, their legs for fins and gills and vengeance against those sailors, the power of the ocean swelling within them, filling their watery hearts with sand and sharp shells, teeth lined in poison and a fury that cannot be quelled within their hearts.**

**“ _Mi pequeño mar,_ ” She had cooed, cupping his soft cheeks to ensure he’d listen to her wisdom, seeing his grandmother a ways off, her own sharp-toothed smile both chilling and reassuring, “ _if ever you find yourself adrift at sea, with your lungs full of water and weariness in your heart, know to call upon Ceto, and she will answer._ ”  
**

Lance shut his eyes once again, a bone-deep exhaustion filling him as he allowed the first breath of water to fill his empty lungs. He sent his mind outward, using the last of his life in a soft, desperate call: ‘ _Please, Ceto, save me_.’

The oceans were still, the silence of the sea surrounding Lance in peace and quiet, his life fading fast as he waited.

* * *

 

From deep within the ocean, from within Lance’s mind, something stirred and woke from its slumber. A tick passed, two, three, and Lance’s eyes flew open with a silent scream as the water was flushed from his lungs, giving him the air he craved in a burst of blinding pain and relief, the ocean coming to heed his call as it swirled around him, an underwater hurricane, his to command. 

Shutting his eyes, Lance burst through the ocean surface and drew breath.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the six of them rushed closer to Blue, there was a sudden, gravelly rumble that came from within the Lion, followed by a sinister hiss. Shiro froze, automatically activating his arm and stopping the others from going any closer to Blue. The black paladin shot his team a look, especially Hunk, who seemed like he was about to snap at Shiro (and boy, wasn’t that surprising, seeing Hunk-kind, sensible, smart, gentle Hunk-ready to throw down with Shiro in his worry for his best friend).

Above the water was rage and chaos.

Shiro swore loudly into his comms, swerving away from the area he’d seen Blue go down in, trying to avoid the hot laser blasts coming from the Galra ship that had just floated out of the fucking ocean. Good camouflage for a ship that’s the same shade as the waters surrounding it, the black paladin thought blandly, fighting off his increasing panic when the Blue Lion hadn’t surfaced yet.

Red shot past black, Keith’s angry growl reverberating through his helmet as he engaged the ship. Hunk’s panicked cry of ‘Lance!’ was drowned out by laser fire and Green had disappeared, using her cloaking abilities to the team’s advantage against the giant Galra ship. Black let out a roar as her pilot used his piloting skills and her abilities to hit the Galra ship with all he had, Shiro trying to keep an eye out for Blue, hoping she’d surface, knowing that it had already been  _too long_  since Lance had gone down. 

‘ _At least he’s wearing his helmet_ ,’ Shiro thought to himself, turning his complete focus to the ship. He ignored the gaping pit in the bottom of his stomach, an uncomfortable fear filling him.

“Keith, focus Red’s blasts on the ship’s canons, try to take out as many as possible!” Shiro called out, seeing Red maneuver around the ship to follow his orders, “Hunk, use Yellow’s armor to your advantage, but focus your smashing to the ship’s control center, Black and I will help with that.”

“What about Lance? He and Blue are still down in the water! We should be going down to make sure everything’s alright-”

“Lance is completely capable of taking care of himself Hunk, calm down. He’ll be fine, I’m sure, okay?” Shiro called out, trying not to let his own discomfort from the still submerged pilot and lion seep into his tone, “Pidge, can you try hacking into the Galra systems to get their shields lowered?”

“Already working on it!” The youngest paladin called back from wherever they and Green were hidden, “If it makes you feel any better Hunk, I’ll try scan for Blue and make sure everything’s alright with Lance, okay?”

Hunk hesitated, before sighing and slumping into his own seat, “Yeah, that’d be great, thanks, Pidge.”

“Little help over here guys!” Keith yelled irritably, trying to take the weapon blasters down and avoiding the shots coming at his Lion. 

That seemed to snap everyone back into action, and the next few minutes were full of chaos. Nothing seemed to work; Pidge wasn’t able to get around the shield programming quick enough, Hunk and Shiro weren’t able to hit the control center without being shot at, Keith was having trouble attacking so many weapons without Lance as back-up. It was slow going, and all of them were getting more desperate as time went on, still without Lance or Blue bursting from the waters.

And then the ship was pulled under.

* * *

**It was loud above the still waters, too much noise, too much disturbance, the air tasted wrong.**

**He bared his teeth, a snarl ripping from his throat, the call of the waves stoking the cold rage burning, burning, burning within him, channeling into the depths as he tugged.**

**He gazed up at the thing in the sky, too loud, bad smelling, the waves were angry and distraught, it was their fault, the waves wanted them gone, drowned, silent.**

**He pulled up the well of power, the waves lifting up high, high, high, enveloping it, crushing it, pulling it back down into the depths, the rage fed, dampened.**

**Something called to him, soothing him, crying for his return. He went back down, swam fast and sure and strong.**

**The jaws opened, the scent of home and security beckoned him within the metal beasts maw.**

**It shut, and he waited.**

* * *

The comms had gone silent and still as everyone watched the waters settle and calm, the monster wave from before disintegrating with the consummation of the Galra ship. A feeling of unease from the climactic end settled within the remaining paladins, none of them wanting to voice what was running through their minds.

Hunk was the first to snap out of it, a sudden fear overtaking him, “Guys, wait, wait, Lance is still down there with Blue, oh god!” 

The panic in the Yellow paladin’s voice made everyone return back to reality as Shiro and Hunk both dove their Lions into the water, frantically trying to find Blue among the wreckage of the Galra ship and desperately hoping that nothing bad had happened to Lance. 

Above the surface, Keith hesitated to follow, hearing his Lion’s displeased rumble at the thought of entering the violet waters of the planet, deciding to wait beside Pidge anxiously for the other three to come back up. Pidge was too busy scanning the waters, their own worry for Lance filling their mind as they couldn’t seem to connect to his helmet, the cold claws of dread filling their stomach.

It didn’t take long for Black and Yellow to resurface, towing a non-responsive Blue up with them, “We need to head back to the castle, Lance isn’t responding to his communicator and I’m worried his helmet might have come off during the tumble into the water!” Shiro called out through the comms, unsteady and worried voice as unsettling as the sudden sinking of the Galra ship. 

The paladins flew back to the castle-ship as quick as they could, Pidge contacting Allura and Coran to get them to prepare a healing pod, just in case.

Once they’d all entered the flight bay, the paladins scrambled out of their cockpits, Hunk, and Pidge the first ones to rush over to the powered down Blue. They were followed closely by Shiro and Keith, then Allura and Coran, both wearing anxious expressions in regards to the Blue paladin’s health.

As the six of them rushed closer to Blue, there was a sudden, gravelly rumble that came from within the Lion, followed by a sinister hiss. Shiro froze, automatically activating his arm and stopping the others from going any closer to Blue. The black paladin shot his team a look, especially Hunk, who seemed like he was about to snap at Shiro (and boy, wasn’t that surprising, seeing Hunk-kind, sensible, smart, gentle Hunk-ready to throw down with Shiro in his worry for his best friend). 

“Did you hear that?” Shiro asked warily, seeing them all respond with hesitant nods. He swallowed thickly and motioned for everyone to stay there as he quietly started walking towards the Lion, hesitant for the growls and snarls that rung throughout the hangar.

Blue’s eyes lit up sluggishly, and he maw opened to let out a copious amount of seawater, along with a squirming and struggling body. Shiro froze, breath picking up the pace as the creature-far too big to be Lance, too big and too wide and too hunched over to be their Blue paladin, oh god-moved to stand on its four limbs.

It seemed to be some sort of cross between a multitude of different sea creatures; its body was long, slim muscle that shifted and moved with held back tension, thick, but surprisingly pretty gills adorning the sides of its torso. Two large swimming fins hung from the back of its legs, probably used to help propel the creature through water in bursts of speed, arms lanky and long, enough so that it could walk comfortably upon two or four legs. Wicked sharp claws tipped webbed fingers and Shiro swore he saw those claws dig into the metal flooring of the hangars easily, like a knife through hot butter. A long, smooth and muscular tail, shaped as that of a shark, with the upper fin starting at the small of the creature’s back and tapering off halfway down the tail, swung dangerously behind it. It’s back legs were crouched low to the ground, quivering with unleashed tension, and Shiro spotted one of those back claws that you often see on birds, curved dangerously along with its four front webbed toes, just as sharply clawed.

It was scenting the air around it, taking in big gulps through its mouth, a long snakelike tongue flickering out to taste the scents in the air. Shiro let out a fearful gasp, and it’s attention suddenly snapped towards him. Shiro froze at the sight of its jaws, lips spread in a wide snarl over what looked to be weirdly armored and fused teeth, much like those of the long-extinct Dunkleosteus on display. It didn’t seem to have ears or a nose-aside from the small holes close to its mouth-but its wide eyes and double slitted pupils made Shiro freeze as if something instinctual and long-buried warned him of the dangerous predator in front of him. Its head seemed vaguely humanoid, and Shiro held back a panicked, hysterical laugh at how it’s face and head seemed to closely resemble that of a video game character back from earth, right down to the second shark tail and fins that sprouted from the back of its head. The majority of the creature’s body was covered in shades of blues and browns, and there were beautifully delicate looking fins on its arms and the backs of its calves.

The black paladin and the creature were both frozen, staring at one another cautiously. Shiro knew not to make any sudden movements, choosing to slowly, so achingly slowly, start to move back towards his teammates behind him, suppressing the fear of what he’d find in Blue’s cockpit once they managed to get past the creature. 

It kept its eyes and attention on Shiro, growling lowly and threateningly at him when the black paladin moved too quickly, though it didn’t seem like it was going to attack.

All was going well… until its attention suddenly snapped towards Keith, who had started a slow, if impatient walk around the creature and towards Blue. The shock and sudden knowledge of the other paladin being so far behind it seemed to make the creature snap, and it lunged for Keith.

“No!” Shiro cried out, tackling the creature and hearing a wild sound as they both fell to the ground.

* * *

**It was quiet, quiet, quiet, the scents surrounding him familiarly, a curl of warmth and safety filling its chest with satisfaction, even if the taint of fear and anxiety bittered the air around it.**

**The big one was familiar, he knew to defer to the big one, knew the arm could burn and destroy, knew the big one was Alpha, leader, pack, and pod. But the Alpha’s own fear made him uneasy, unwilling to drop down and show his belly in trust.**

**Alpha was moving back, letting him calm, letting him catch the taste of everyone in the room, knowing them all, knowing his pack, his pod.**

**The sudden movement of the red one behind him made him angry-the red one should not move, the red one is away from the pack, going closer to HIS metal beast, his Blue, he wanted to sink his teeth and claws into the red one.**

**He lunged, sound ripping from his throat even as the Alpha pushed him to the ground, made him want to submit, but he was bigger than the Alpha now, could easily toss him off and claw at his arms until fresh blood spilled.**

**He yowled, anger and fear on his tongue as he went down, trying to claw the Alpha or attack the red one, he didn’t know, but he struggled, flung the Alpha off of him, swiping sharp claws and snapping strong jaws.**

**He stopped when red’s pained voice-tone came back to him from his Blue.**

**_“O-oh Gods, he’s-he’s not here, Shiro, fuck Lance isn’t in Blue!”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://crytill5am.tumblr.com/post/162409534989/this-absolutely-stunning-picture-is-of-lances  
> [nuro-cha/nuro-does-art drew lance's monster form! it's pr damn awesome!]


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, what are we gunna do with big, scary and scaly?”
> 
> Hunk looked up from the food-goo he was morosely poking at, turning his brown eyes to Pidge. The younger paladin was slumped on the table, their own spoon twirling listlessly through the green goop, red rimmed eyes focused on the way it joggled. They sniffled lightly and rubbed their nose before looking back up to the others. Hunk swallowed roughly and pushed his plate of food-goo away, “What d’you mean?”

Blood pounded in his ears, his throat felt constricted, tightened with a mix of grief and fear as he stared down at the empty seat of the Blue Lion. 

Lance was  _gone_.

Swallowed up by the deep waters of a planet thousands of light years away from where the castle had warped. Keith’s knees felt weak; even if they warped back to that same planet, the likelihood that Lance was alive and waiting for them was impossible. There was just no way the blue paladin could have survived the crushing pressure of the waters. He couldn’t have survived being dragged down by the currents, those same currents that had reached up and swallowed the Galra ship in one, easy motion.

The red paladin felt sick to his stomach, legs buckling from underneath him as he heaved painfully. Panic pounded in his head, blocking out the struggling and painful screeching form of the… creature that had come out of Blue’s cockpit. Keith couldn’t breathe, felt dizzy and sick and  _oh god, oh god, Lance was gone, he was really, truly **gone**_. No more bickering, no more competitions, no more silly jokes and pick up lines and late night stargazing with Hunk, Pidge, and Lance, because Lance was  _gone_. 

The red paladin didn’t hear as Shiro, with the help of an enlarged Allura and Hunk was able to subdue the creature, its hissing and growling becoming low and threatening. It squirmed within the bonds they placed upon it, Shiro and Allura quickly leaving the hangars to bring the large thing to a holding cell. They struggled with the harsh struggling of the creature, it’s size leaving them at a disadvantage with keeping a firm grip as they left the other paladins to mourn. 

Keith barely noticed the larger form of Hunk as he knelt shakily beside the red paladin, his own breathing quick and ragged, “Hey Keith, buddy, breathe for me. You need to calm down, okay? Can you - can you breathe with me? Yeah, hey, keep your eyes on me and just-just breathe, alright?” Keith tried to focus on Hunk, heard the wobbling, cracking voice as Hunk tried to calm both Keith and himself down. The yellow paladin croaked painfully as he saw the empty cockpit, breathing quickening even more before he managed to bring it under some control, “Yeah, that’s - that’s great, bud, just breathe with me, okay? I know it’s hard right now, but you need to breathe with me so you don’t-you don’t pass out.”

“Yeah…” Keith managed to croak out, slowly, painfully trying to control his rapid hyperventilating. The red paladin felt a wave of revulsion and guilt crash over him. Keith had-he had no damn right to be this panicked and upset over Lance’s loss when Hunk was Lance’s best friend. Hunk had every right to be upset, to be weakened like this, Keith and Lance weren’t even that close, he should be able to control his reaction better. Didn’t stop him from taking Hunk’s comfort and help greedily. Keith blindly reached out to Hunk, gripping his hands tightly in an effort to give the larger man some form of comfort as they both tried to calm down. 

As Hunk and Keith slowly started to calm down with one another, the sounds inside the hangar came back to them slowly. Pidge’s hiccuping cries reached them first, the younger paladin coming to sit on Hunk’s other side, wrapping their arm through his and offering a steadying, if miserably crying in grief, warmth. 

The three sat there, grieving before they were able to calm down after nearly an hour. Shiro returned to them, exhaustion making him slump next to Keith, wrapping his human arm around the huddle paladins. Keith caught sight of Shiro’s lower lip wobbling before the older paladin bit it in an effort to keep himself from crying in front of his younger teammates. Keith reached up to squeeze Shiro’s arm comfortingly, resting his head tiredly on Hunk’s still jerking shoulder. 

Allura and Coran were nowhere to be found within the group. The Altean princess locking herself in the privacy of her rooms and her adviser stalwartly returned to the main flight deck, flying the ship to a safer area. 

* * *

**Cold.**

**Cold and metal and dry.**

**Harder than what his claws can tear through. He breathes deep, tongue shifting to loll out. He could taste nothing but stale air.**

**Growls low, muscle and sinew and bone shifting under the skin as he paces, turns, paces, tries to dig his claws in the floor beneath him.**

**He… knows where he is. It comes back, small bits and pieces. He should be safe here, knows the cold metal place is one of safety and solitude.**

**He needs to return to his Blue. His body has begun to itch and burn in the dry. He looks down, sees the cooling yellow glow from his arms, fins starting to sink back into where they’d previously hidden.**

**It was happening. Slowly, surely.**

**He lifted his head. The scent of something… someone coming closer, carrying a foul but mouthwatering odor with it. He growled, low and deep, keeping to the far end of the cell as it, he? He came closer.**

**“** Well, that’s quite the greeting! **” It was… strange. Too loud, but also acceptably loud, and he did not mind the voice of it so much. It held up a plate of - something to the bars and he leaned forward to catch a taste of its scent, “** Can’t have our strange guest go hungry! Wouldn’t want you to end up being a sentient species and come to distrust us because we didn’t feed you while you were hungry. In fact- **”**

**He had lost interest in its prattling, wracking his mind. It was familiar. He knew the creature with the strange fur-hair, it’s hair, he knows this, bits and pieces coming together rapidly the longer he looked at the creature-over its mouth but… he frowned, cocking his head slightly as he continued to watch it speak, bending to shove the plate with-is that goo? Towards him.**

**It suddenly struck him with such painful clarity that it made him tense. It, he, this one's name was Coran. Coran with the bright, kind smile and funny jokes. Coran with the interesting stories, the open arms when he felt the missing presence of home, who would speak to him whilst they worked on the metal place- the castle-ship. He shut his eyes, a dizzying number of memories and thoughts overcoming him. He growled, deep and low, clutching his head in slight pain.**

**His lips and mouth moved. Coran had stopped speaking, seemingly frozen as he watched the beast clutch at itself. He (Lance? That is his name, he knows it, feels the name resonate with him in the deepest corners of his consciousness) turned his pained gaze to the Altean. “Crrn…”**

**The Altean furrowed his brow and Lance tried again, forcing clunky, heavy jaws to sound out his honorary uncle’s (space uncle?) name, “C’rrraan… C’rrn.. C’ran.”**

**He watched Coran’s eyes wide in shock, the Altean beginning to step away from the holding cell in panic. Lance launched himself forward, the fear of the now familiar features leaving him by himself to his pain in this cell driving him to reach out to the Altean, “C’ran! Co-rn! Co-rraan? Co-ran, Coran!” He managed to force out.**

**For a moment, time froze as the two of them stared at one another, Lance in pain and fear, and Coran in growing horror as he slowly came to understand just what seemed to be happening. Still, the Altean hesitated, stepping even more back to the exit and Lance yowled Coran’s name desperately.**

**The moment broke when Lance doubled over, a pained roar leaving him as the burning became greater. Gods, everything ached, itched, stretching and collapsing rapidly inside him. He could only let out pained noises as he suffered through the alter-transformation. His pain so consuming that he didn’t see Coran rush out the area.  
**

* * *

“So, what are we gonna do with big, scary and scaly?”

Hunk looked up from the food-goo he was morosely poking at, turning his brown eyes to Pidge. The younger paladin was slumped on the table, their own spoon twirling listlessly through the green goop, red-rimmed eyes focused on the way it joggled. They sniffled lightly and rubbed their nose before looking back up to the others. Hunk swallowed roughly and pushed his plate of food-goo away, “What d’you mean?”

Pidge shrugged, frowning, “We can’t exactly keep it in the holding cells forever. It’s too dry there and we don’t know anything about the species to make any sorts of accommodations for it. Plus, I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t wanna live with a creepy, murderous sea-creature in space.”

The paladins and princess nodded in agreement. After nearly an hour and a half of crying, they’d been interrupted by Coran, who ushered everyone into the kitchen after having found a moon to hide behind while the paladins licked their wounds. The loss of Lance was still too fresh for everyone to even think about going out to fight the Galra at this point in time. No one had the heart to even entertain the notion that they’d eventually have to… look for a new blue paladin. Coran had left soon after, carrying a plate of goo with him, commenting that their impromptu guest must also be fed, despite trying to claw the other paladins after freeing itself from the Blue Lion.

Now they sat there, each of them trying to force down at least some of the food-goo and having minimal success. Allura looked a wreck, her hair messy around her face as she actually slumped on the table, plate empty but looking vaguely nauseous. The paladins were seated around the table, each of them staring listlessly at their own goo before pushing almost-full plates away from themselves. None of them felt particularly hungry. 

“We could try to bring it back to the planet we were just at? I mean, it must be a native… animal?” Shiro said, looking over to Allura who frowned in response and shook her head.

“I’m afraid there’s simply no way that that creature was native to that planet. While the planet does have some sea life within its oceans, the scans and data of the planet never showed any indication of anything that large or predatory living within the sea…” her eyes flickered down to the claw marks that scraped over the Galra technology that made up Shiro’s right arm. The black paladin frowned and shuddered lightly, remembering the harsh screech as sharp, metal piercing claws scraped over his arm.

Shifting uncomfortably, he looked back to the younger paladins, who all frowned in confusion, “If that’s the case, how did it end up there? Did it come from the Galra ship?” Hunk asked, scratching lightly at his chin as he stood up, stacking the plates in his arm to bring them to the kitchen, prepared to toss the leftover food-goo back into the trash receptacle. 

Again, Allura shook her head with a frustrated sigh, “That’s not possible. The Galra ship we fought was a war-ship, not a prisoner sip. And unless the Galra have started using sea creatures as weapons in wars, there’s no reason for it to have been on that ship in the first place.”

“Well, then where did it come from?” Keith huffed, tossing his hands into the air in irritation, “It couldn’t have popped out of thin air! That’s just not possible!” He frowned, “And what about Lance? Are we gonna just… leave his body to drift in that planet’s oceans without at least trying to bring it back?”

Hunk froze. Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Something itched in the back of the yellow paladin’s mind, a memory long buried that seemed to resurface now. He remembered joining Lance’s family for a summer vacation away from the Garrison, considering that they were far closer to it than Hunk’s own family home had been. He remembered long days under the hot Cuban sun, running carefree over white beaches and chasing Lance with water guns. Hunk remembers sitting next to Lance, the Cuban boy’s grandmother across them, bonfire flickering wildly in the cool summer night as she recounted legends and stories to the two of them.

‘ _Tell him ‘bout Ceto’s children, abuela!_ ’ Hunk clearly hears Lance’s loud laugh, sharp grin teasing as he turned to his bigger friend, leaning against him comfortably. The yellow paladin remembers the old woman’s shark-like grin as she told them the stories, painting the images as if they were lost memories for them. Hunk remembers the chill that passed over his spine, not from the cold air, that came from Abuela’s warning words once the tail was done:

‘ _Be wary of what lurks within these ancient seas, niños. It is not only fish that you must worry about_.’

Hunk clutched at the kitchen counter, breath speeding up slightly, both fear and hope warring within him. If Abuela’s stories had been true if they were right then… then it was possible that Lance-

His thoughts were interrupted as Coran burst through the open kitchen entryway, out of breath and in panic. The paladins and Allura quickly stood to attention, fearing that they’d been found once again by the Galra. The older Altean started babbling, words too quick and too garbled to really understand what exactly he was saying as he tried to catch his breath once again.

“Coran!” Allura finally called out sharply, shoulders tense, “What on Altea is going on?!”

Coran stopped, taking in a deep breath and motioning for them to follow him as he turned and left the kitchen once again, “You should all come see this!”

 They paused, all of them looking at one another in confusion before following Coran, noting that they were heading down to the holding cells. Hunk’s heart pounded loudly in his ears, blood roaring-no, wait. He tilted his head to the side, trying to catch a better listen to the pained roars and cries that seemed to echo loudly the closer they came to the cell that the creature was in. 

As the paladins came to a stop before the cell, they gasped and froze in shock. Within the cell, the creature was hunched over, skin shifting and rolling over its body as it seemed to be shrinking. Hunk felt a wave of nausea crash over him, swallowing back bile as he watched gills seal shut, the beast gasping and clawing at its neck and sides. An ugly gurgling sound, as if its lungs were filled with water instead of air, filtered out from the bars. Hunk caught the creatures gaze for a moment before it doubled over and heaved (the yellow paladin winced in sympathy, that did not sound good at all), a deluge of purple water and vomit bubbling up and spewing out of its mouth, splattering grossly all over the floor.

The rancid smell of vomit and stale water seemed to snap everyone into action, Shiro barking out orders for everyone to get ready to hold the creature down as Allura and Coran fumbled with the locks of the cell to get it open. The creature was rapidly becoming smaller, more human-esque in appearance, the blue coloring of its back paling into a lighter hue. Its sharp features receded somewhat, the weirder fish part at the top of its head sinking into its skull and springing back curly brown hair in its place. Its teeth shrunk but stayed in that weird armor-sheer-fang combo that Hunk had only seen before in prehistoric books (Dunkleosteus, if he remembered correctly, skin crawling in fear as he remembered how a fun fact had been that the teeth had been sharp enough to slice easily through skin, flesh, and bone). 

Its tail seemed to stay the same length, drooping behind the much smaller… human now as it-he continued to vomit up seawater. Hunk’s breath caught as he muscled his way inside first, coming to kneel next to-to-

“Lance?” Hunk managed to squeak out, his friend, the one he thought he’d lost to the sea (the amount of water being upchucked to the ground made him feel even more nauseous, oh god, Lance had nearly  _drowned_ , there was so much water-), was there, right next to him. Lance groaned, his vomiting finally coming to a stop as he slumped to lean against Hunk, breathing raggedly. 

“Hunk?” The blue paladin whispered, voice hoarse and gravelly. He opened one eye and Hunk shivered-Lance’s eyes, the iris at least, was more oval formed, two slitted pupils resting on the yellow paladin’s face. Lance’s eyes were red-rimmed but seemed to glow in the darkened area of the cell, and when his gaze flickered away briefly, Hunk could see that the pupils reflected the light from outside the cell like that of a cat’s. 

Hunk laughed wetly, shoulders slumping in relief and joy-Lance was alive! Different, but alive and here and God, Hunk was so, so, so very glad. The bigger man gripped Lance’s (still long, too long to be fully human, tipped with dangerous claws that could cut through metal as if it were butter) arm, encouraging the weakened paladin to lay against his solid form. Lance followed easily, legs (normal, human till the knee, where they split into a weird digitigrade bottom legs) collapsing beneath him and Hunk laughed with more genuine joy, hugging his best friend close to him tightly, shivering lightly at Lance’s much-colder-than-should-be-human skin, “Yeah man, god, you gave us such a scare dude! We thought you were a goner, I-” his breath hitched and he cleared the lump from his throat, “-I was scared you were - that you were gone, dude.”

Lance huffed, lolling his head so that he could peer up at Hunk, ignoring their rather stunned audience for the moment. Now that Hunk was closer, he could see that Lance’s teeth were different, seemingly a bit bigger and longer than what would be normal for in a human. There were patches of amphibian-esque skin around the corners of his eyes that lead to his neck, where it seemed to split away from his normal, human skin on the front and the continued, slightly rougher blue skin on his back, spots of earthy brown, aqua green and surprising white stripes cutting beautifully in a unique patterning through the colour. “Can’t get rid ‘f me tha’ eas’ly.” He slurred, exhaustion clear in his features.

Hunk laughed again, moving to stand up, ignoring Lance’s plaintive whine. He leaned back over to lift Lance into a bridal carry (more difficult now, he didn’t know how to hold the tail in a way that ensured he wouldn’t trip over it or stop blood circulation) and turning to the stunned team. The yellow paladin cleared his throat and gestured for them to maybe move out of the way, “We should get him out of here and somewhere where he can rest probably.”

Pidge was the first to snap out of it, shoving Shiro and Keith out of the way harshly so Hunk could pass through, marching swiftly beside the bigger yellow paladin as they left the room together. Their green eyes stuck to Lance (Lance, who was here, not dead, alive and tired and safe, but  _changed_  and more dangerous than ever before), their hand coming up to pat Lance’s head lightly, letting out a startled laugh as Lance released a rumble-like purr at the action. 

Once Hunk and Pidge had made it to the living area, Pidge flitted off to grab a blanket for Lance at Hunk’s request, passing by the others, who had finally snapped out of their shock to rush into the living area. Pidge soon returned with several soft, fluffy blankets from Lance, Hunk’s and their room, pausing hesitantly in the doorway at Keith’s loud, angry voice.

“What the  _fuck_  is going on here?!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Gross,” He admitted, frowning. His mouth felt and tasted really weird. He shook his head and groaned as the room spun around them rapidly, fingernails digging into the blanket someone-was it Allura? Pidge? He sniffed the blanket, it was Pidge-had thrown around him. He felt something tear under his nails, “Feels like I just got run over and dunked in a river.”

Lance blearily looked over to a fuming Keith. He frowned, “Can we please use our inside voices?” He mumbled, curling up contentedly in Hunk’s lap, tucking his head under his best friend’s chin. Damn, Hunk smelled really good? Like yeah, he never smelled  _bad_  before, but for some reason, Hunk smelled like coconuts, vanilla and hydrangea blossoms. How the heck did he get those out here in space? Lance tried to bring his head back to what he’d been saying, “I kinda got a  _really_  bad headache, my dude.”

Keith looked a little guilty, stalking over to sit beside Hunk on the couch, keeping is purple-navy blue? Lance thinks there’s some blue in there, is that gold? Weird, he can see a bunch more colors in Keith’s eyes now and, oh gosh, those pores did not look good-eyes on Lance. Keith frowned, shifting to make himself more comfortable as Shiro came to sit next to him, Allura and Pidge on the other side of Hunk. Coran had left to go grab Lance something to eat, something with more carbohydrates, rich in fats for energy after Lance’s transformation.

Shiro smiled and Lance was immediately enraptured, double slitted blue eyes blinking up at Shiro in slight wonder. Wow, when did Shiro become that colorful? He’s also got nice skin, what the fuck? What cream was Shiro using for his face, Lance needed to know his secrets, why were Shiro’s teeth so  _white_? “How are you feeling Lance?”

“Gross,” He admitted, frowning. His mouth felt and tasted really weird. He shook his head and groaned as the room spun around them rapidly, fingernails digging into the blanket someone-was it Allura? Pidge? He sniffed the blanket, it was Pidge-had thrown around him. He felt something tear under his nails, “Feels like I just got run over and dunked in a river.”

Keith’s jaw clenched and he looked away from Lance, glaring down at his clenched fists. That was weird. Was Keith in one of his moods? Lance shrugged slightly, leaning comfortably in Hunk’s arms. Shiro seemed to hesitate when Lance yawned, his eyes glued to the blue paladin’s new teeth, shuddering slightly at how sharp they looked. He remembered reading books upon books of prehistoric creatures and knew that the teeth of the creature from which Lance takes his from, acted much like the blade of a guillotine, slicing through flesh and bone, with a bite force of 80,000 pounds per square inch.

Pidge pushed through, their brown eyes glittering excitedly, “So... Lance,” she began, grin sharp and wide, “What’s the story behind you turning into a big sea beast?”

Lance turned to Pidge, staring at his friend in confusion, his blue eyes glancing down at himself and seeing the sharp nails biting and tearing into the blanket, “Oh...” he trailed off, looking up at Hunk through narrowed eyes before shrugging lightly, “I guess the stories were true then.”

“What stories?” Keith asked impatiently, turning his glare to Lance. The red paladin itched to grab Lance’s shoulders and shake him, demand answers and maybe pull the other into a hug and yell at him for making him-the team worry. 

Lance sluggishly turned back to Keith and sighed, resting his head on Hunk’s chest again, a deep rumble coming from somewhere in his chest when the yellow paladin rubbed Lance’s chilly arms, “’s a long story. Gotta do with a bunch of family history that ‘m too tired to talk about right now.”

Hunk cut in as Lance yawned again, seeing Keith’s anger return to complement his confusion about what was happening, “It’s cool dude, you can rest a bit while Coran gets you some food. I know you’re probably tired from what happened today. I’ll explain in the meantime?” Lance nodded sleepily and waved his hand for Hunk to continue, curling up and allowing his eyes to fall shut for a nap.

Hunk turned his attention back to the rest of the team and motioned for them to stay relatively quiet. Allura was the one to pipe up now, fascination glittering in her two-toned eyes as she stared at Lance, “So, what exactly is Lance? You all told me that humans do not have any sort of shape-shifting abilities like we Alteans do, so how is it possible for him to change so... drastically?”

Hunk sighed softly and leaned back, arms wrapped around a still too-cold-for-comfort Lance, mulling over where he should begin, before shrugging lightly, “I only really know what I’ve heard from the stories Lance and his family have told me about it, so I’ll try to give you guys as much information as possible...” he trailed off, waiting for everyone to pay attention to him before he began.

“I met Lance the first day that we were both at the Garrison and we became really fast buds. Like super fast, it was crazy, ‘cause both of us have got pretty bad anxiety, as you all know, but that’s not that important to the story,” Hunk began, eyes a little distant and a small smile on his face, “We became so close that Lance invited me over to his family’s place during our first Christmas, since I couldn’t go back home to Hawaii and Lance’s family lived closer after moving to the States.

“His family was really nice. Big, loud, but really nice, and they set you at ease almost instantly. The first few days, we didn’t really do much but help around the house with Christmas preparations-we were both sent to work in the kitchen ‘cause that’s where they needed the most help at the time,” Hunk hummed, allowing himself to get lost in the memories, “It was on the day of Christmas Eve that things got a bit... weird, I guess?”

“Weird how?” Pidge interrupted, eyes curious as they placed their head in the palm of their hand, eyeing Lance with a scientific curiosity as if they wanted to completely look over and test Lance’s new appendages and skin.

Hunk shrugged, “Weird as in we celebrated it at the beach during high tide. The house basically looked over a cliff next to the beach from which you could see the sea or go down to swim in it if you wanted to,” He shook his head and grinned, “It was still a lot of fun though. We spent the day swimming and then at night there was a big bonfire where everyone sat around. It was nice,” he frowned and shrugged, “The weirder part was when Abuela, Lance’s grandmom, started telling us Greek myths and Legends. Did you guys know Lance is part Greek?”

Seeing the others shake their heads in bewilderment, Hunk chuckled and nodded lightly, “Yeah, I didn’t know either. Apparently, according to Abuela and Lance, his great-grandmother went to Cuba to make a name for herself, fell in love and got married. At least, that’s what they told me. I get the feeling that Abuela wasn’t being  _really_  honest at the time, and now I know she wasn’t because, well,” He gestured to the napping Lance slightly, brow raised, “Anyway, so we spent hours around the bonfire, listening to the old stories and just having a great night.”

Keith frowned and Shiro looked confused, “I don’t see how this has anything to do with how Lance is...” they gestured to him, eyebrows raised and Hunk huffed slightly, shaking his head.

“I wasn’t done, dudes,” He hummed, “So, we’re coming up to the end of the night and Lance tells Abuela to tell me about the legend of Ceto’s children,” Hunk gave the team knowing looks, while Allura just seemed heavily interested in these legends, “Apparently, there have been cases throughout history of sailors throwing women overboard during storms or before voyages to ‘chase away the beast/demons of the sea,” he snorted at their shocked and horrified looks, waving his hand slightly, “It doesn’t happen anymore, but yeah, it was a thing.”

Hunk trailed off, eyes blank with a far away look before he continued speaking, “Basically, the story is about a young priestess who was taken from Poseidon’s temple by looting sailors, who threw her into the sea-weighed down with nothing but stones, because they’d taken all her jewelry and clothing to be sold off for riches-as an offering to Poseidon, so they could avoid his wrath,” Hunk frowned deeply and sighed, “While she was drowning, she called for help from anyone, any deity or sea monster that could hear her and... her call was answered.”

It was silent as Hunk recounted the legend, everyone too interested in it now to interrupt or ask any questions that were burning in their minds, “Ceto was the goddess of the dangers of the ocean and of sea monsters, born from the primordial goddess Gaia-or mother earth- and the primordial god Pontus. She’s apparently known as one of the ancient gods and birthed all beasts and monsters of the sea. She answered the woman’s call, and turned her into a living embodiment of the sea, turned her into a creature like no other seen before,” Hunk hummed, blinking and turning his attention back to the others, “In the story, Ceto claims the woman as her daughter, and bids her to do what she wishes to the ones who had wronged her... so the woman sunk their ship and drowned the sailors in a fit of madness.”

“Relatable,” Pidge whispered, snickering as the team eyed her, Allura huffing out a slightly amused breath at the green paladin’s words before frowning. 

“What does this legend have to do with Lance?” She asked quizzically, tilting her head to the side and Hunk shrugged.

“The woman wasn’t the last to be sacrificed and changed by the ocean. At the time, I just thought it was some weird myth that wasn’t well known because I looked everywhere on the internet for it. Whenever I asked Lance about it, he’d get pretty cagey and weird, so I just dropped it after a while. But I think the truth may be a little closer to home. considering everything that’s happened to Lance,” Hunk admitted, looking down at his snoozing best friend.

Keith looked dumbfounded, “So what you’re trying to tell us is that Lance is some kind of ocean nightmare because of some ancient goddess because he nearly drowned during our mission?” Hunk nodded, and Keith let out a sharp, incredulous laugh, “And you expect us to believe that?”

“It’s the truth,” Hunk huffed, narrowing his deep brown eyes at Keith, “I mean, it makes sense? I don’t think this is something I can tell you concretely is true, but I think Lance is a so-called ‘child of Ceto’ now.”

“Or maybe he’s related to one,” Pidge piped up, rolling her eyes at Shiro’s huff, “I mean, who in Lance’s family history was full Greek and went to Cuba and got married and had kids there? His great grandma.”

Shiro shook his head, brain running a mile a minute with all of this new information, “That just can’t be true. Lance has never transformed before when touching or being underwater, plus it’s just not possible? Ceto is a  _myth_ , Hunk.”

Allura shook her head, a frown on her face as she looked at Lance, “I am uncertain as to the truth of a myth, but we can clearly see that Lance is, in some form, capable of shifting into a fairly large sea creature and that it is possibly related to his family’s past,” She hummed, leaning back comfortably in her seat, “I also believe that this is possibly the first time that Lance has shifted, as he has not truly been in life threatening danger near or in water before-if we are to believe that the cause of the shift is due, in part, to the transformation being triggered by some sort of trauma in or around water. It could be that he simply could not transform before today.”

“But that means there are millions of others like this,” Keith snapped, shaking his head, still not believing everything he’d heard one hundred percent yet, “If they stayed in the water we would have found something like them already, and if they can’t fully revert back to being human-like Lance-then we’d have heard a lot more about weird sea people  _years_  ago!”

“That’s not necessarily true either, Keith,” Pidge huffed, shaking her head and tapping her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, “We know more about what’s out here in space than we do about our own earth oceans. Like, we’ve maybe discovered like thirty percent of everything that lives in our oceans, give or take.”

Keith and Shiro sat back, staring at Lance dully as their friend continued to sleep, Shiro gesturing to him, “Why isn’t he completely turned back into human form in that case?”

Hunk frowned, thinking it over before shrugging, “I don’t really know? Maybe it’s because he doesn’t have any control over it because it’s never happened before?”

“It could also be caused by the fact that he is male, while most of the other people this has happened to in your legends were female. It could be because of a difference in gender between the species,” Allura added, sitting on the couch primly as Coran came wandering in, wrinkling her nose at the smell coming off of the large serving tray he had with him.

“Righto! Hunk, could you wake Lance, I’ve brought him food that will help replenish his energy supply after that transformation!” Coran said cheerfully, gesturing to the large pile of unidentifiable goop, wriggling insects, meaty looking substances and milk? “I remember how it was when I was first able to transform! I was as hungry as a starving Yelmore after winter hibernation! I practically stuffed my face with any food I could find within my home at the time! Transforming takes a lot of calories, especially the first one!”

“Thanks, Coran!” Hunk said cheerfully, gently nudging Lance awake slowly, “Hey buddy, think you can wake up to eat something?”

Lance groaned, double slitted eyes opening tiredly, blue gaze rolling over the team that was gathered before it landed on the food set down on the coffee table thing. His mouth began to water as the smell his sensitive nose, immediately sitting up and scrambling to get to the food. He picked up a forkful of the writhing insects, groaning as he took a bite out of them. He ignored the grossed out looks from the others as he chewed and swallowed quickly, turning his attention briefly to a beaming Coran, “This is so good, Coran! Thanks so much.”

“You’re quite welcome my boy!” Coran replied cheerfully, walking to sit beside Allura, who was watching Lance eat curiously, her gaze focused on his teeth and wondering how on earth he was chewing his food at all when his teeth looked like they were sharp shears that could cut easily through prey, but impossible to chew with.

Lance mostly ignored the idle chatter as he ate. He often simply swallowed whole mouthfuls down, finding that it was incredibly difficult to chew on his food, and just wanted to get as much food into himself without going through the hassle of trying to work his teeth in the way he wanted them to. After he was finished, he sighed, leaning back, full and happy. His energy had returned somewhat, and he tuned back into the conversation just as everyone turned their attention back to him.

“Is it true that you’re related to some kind of ancient primordial god?” Lance heard Pidge ask, and sighed lightly, nodding his head.

“Yeah. I mean, it used to be just stories, but I guess some part of me just believed them to be true? Plus there were too many questions that went unanswered about great-grandma Dorianna,” He hummed, turning his attention to them lazily, using his new claws to pick his teeth clean.

Keith looked grossed out by it, but who cared? Lance didn’t. He was just tired and wanted to sleep for a month. Shiro was asking a question though, “Is it possible for you to revert back to being completely human in appearance?”

Lance blinked and shrugged lightly, frowning, “I dunno. I guess I could probably, but I’m too tired to try it right now.”

Allura nodded, smiling sympathetically, “Understandable. You’ve been through quite the ordeal today, Lance.”

“Yeah,” Lance chuckled, coughing wetly into his palm with a grimace, “I think I’m gonna go hit the hay, I’m exhausted,” He said, standing up from where he’d seated himself on the floor, eyeing everyone for a few moments to make sure they didn’t want to ask any more questions.

“Sounds good, buddy,” Hunk smiled, interrupting Pidge, Shiro, and Keith, who all looked like they really, really had a lot of questions to ask the blue paladin. Lance looked dead on his feet, he was swaying slightly and his eyes were drooping shut, “Want me to come with?”

Lance shivered in the cold air of the castle, and grumbled, nodding his head, “Yeah, it’s kinda cold and I don’t think my room has any sort of heating factor.”

“He’s probably cold-blooded right now, like most sea-based life,” Pidge mumbled, fingers twitching as if they wanted to write this down in a notebook or on their laptop, eyes shining with the possibilities of finding out more about Lance’s new abilities as a sea person. Shiro eyed her warily as Hunk got off of the couch, he and Lance making their way to the door to leave.

“See you all t’morrow,” Lance yawned, waving to everyone sleepily, slinking off to his room, Hunk in tow. It was silent as the rest of the team watched the two friends go before Coran cleared his throat and looked at everyone innocently.

“So, anyone mind filling me in on what exactly is going on?”


End file.
